1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to signal transmission devices and, more specifically, to transmitting and receiving signals between a control device and one or more signal transmission devices such as a set-top box.
2. Background Discussion
Various electronic components may be communicated with using a control device, such as a remote control. For example, stereo systems, lighting systems, video displays, digital video recorders (“DVRs”), set-top boxes and so on may be communicated with using a paired remote control. Additionally, it is common for one remote control, for example, a universal remote control, to be matched with and to communicate with one or more electronic components.
Generally, many households may have multiple electronic components and remote controls that may control and/or communicate with one or more of these components. For example, a household may include multiple video displays and set-top boxes. Continuing this example, a user may wish to change the current program deployed on the video display without having to manually change the channel outputted by the set-top box. In this example, the user may employ a remote control to transmit a control signal to the set-top box to select a new channel. Generally, a remote control may transmit a command for performing any number of functions including, but not limited to, changing a channel, recording a program, viewing an electronic programming guide and so on.
In another example, a household may have a video display in a separate room from its paired set-top box. The control device and the set-top box may be referred to as “paired” as the devices may have matching addresses. In this example, the user may wish to change the channel displayed on the video display and may employ a remote control to accomplish this. Specifically, the user may initiate a command via the remote control, which communicates with the set-top box. The set-top box, in turn, transmits the information for a different channel to the video display. In some cases though, a barrier may prevent the remote control from communicating with the set-top box. The barrier may be between the remote control and the set-top box and/or video display. When this happens, the user may have to physically position themselves closer to the set-top box to change the channel and/or physically go to the set-top box to change the channel on the set-top box and accordingly, on the video display in another room.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved method of routing signals between electronic components until the signal reaches a target device.